Jacobi Carbons AB v. United States
992 F. Supp. 2d 1360
Ct. Intl. Trade2014Background
- This case involves Jacobi Carbons AB and Jacobi Carbons, Inc. and consolidated plaintiffs challenging Commerce's Final Results in the fourth administrative review of the antidumping duty order on PRC activated carbon for April 1, 2010, to March 31, 2011.
- Plaintiffs contest two surrogate-value selections: (i) carbonized material and (ii) truck freight, used to determine normal value for nonmarket economy imports.
- Commerce changed its surrogate-country selection from Thailand to the Philippines for most major inputs in the Final Results, affecting valuation of carbonized material and truck freight.
- The Final Results rely on GTAs-based Philippine HTS 4402 data for carbonized material and a Cost of Doing Business in Legazpi City, Philippines, for truck freight; earlier preliminary results used Thailand data.
- Separate-rate respondents Shanxi Industry and Tangshan challenge the potential need to recalculate their separate rates if the mandatory respondents’ margins are remanded, while CAC’s challenge is subsumed by the court’s disposition.
- The court addresses exhaustion of administrative remedies, the surrogate-value determinations, and the single-surrogate-country approach in sustaining Commerce's Final Results.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best available information for carbonized material | Jacobi argues Cocommunity data is superior | Commerce found HTS 4402 Philippine data superior and Cocommunity deficient | Surrogate value chosen (HTS 4402 Philippines) supported by substantial evidence |
| Exhaustion of administrative remedies | Plaintiffs exhausted arguments during proceedings | Exhaustion required; issues waived | Exhaustion not required due to change in surrogate-country determination and late articulation of issues |
| Specificity vs breadth of data for carbonized material | Cocommunity data more specific to coconut-shell charcoal | Specificity insufficient to overcome breadth and tax/duty exclusivity issues | HTS 4402 data preferable; Cocommunity lacks broad market-average and tax/duty exclusivity |
| Truck freight surrogate value choice | GHC favors Thai data for broader market average and specificity | Philippines data contemporaneous and minimizes distortion with single surrogate country | Philippines data for truck freight is reasonable and upheld as best available information |
Key Cases Cited
- Nation Ford Chem. Co. v. United States, 166 F.3d 1375 (Fed. Cir. 1999) (established construction of best available information and fabrication of surrogate data)
- Zhejiang DunAn Hetian Metal Co. v. United States, 652 F.3d 1333 (Fed. Cir. 2011) (importance of using inputs that reflect the respondent's factors of production)
- Dorbest Ltd. v. United States, 604 F.3d 1363 (Fed. Cir. 2010) (single surrogate country preference to minimize distortion)